Tuesday, July 29, 2014

I've struggled with how to write about the ending of Shadow Unit. I have a friend who has never watched the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation because if she doesn't watch it, the show really isn't over. There is still one more episode to watch. There is still one more story out there. There is still one more.

I didn't really understand before. No matter what series I read or show I watched, I would devour the ending. Sure, I might be sad when it was all over, but I wanted to see how it finished and to feel those emotions. And then there was Shadow Unit.

Sometime in 2007 I became aware of a "sekrit project" which involved Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull, Sarah Monette, and Will Shetterly. At the time, all I knew was that it was titled "Shadow Unit" and had a website which had very little information on it. I was (and still am) a very big fan of Elizabeth Bear's fiction and so I was curious as to what was going on. Little did I know that I would spend the next seven years anxiously and eagerly awaiting each new episode.

The word "episode" is used very specifically here. Shadow Unit was imagined as an episodic television show that never existed, so each episode was a discrete story building the larger mythology. My description of it was always "Criminal Minds meets The X-Files, but the monsters are human." It's as good as it sounds, and probably better than that.

It is one of my very favorite things ever. Shadow Unit invited a community to grow around it, to participate through character livejournal accounts that were written in real time - as if the characters were real people living their lives, which is what they became. The creators interacted with the fans on a regular basis via the message board, and it became a thing. A community. A community of which I was a part for a number of years. I fell away, as happens sometimes, but I still followed the episodes, I still had my heart ripped out after one particular episode midway through the run. The first season finale was a short novel worth of material, but it played out over real time - so when the livejournals went silent, we don't know if there is anyone who makes it out okay.

It was a beautiful and moving thing.

The series finale went live on July 6. "Something's Gotta Eat T. Rexes" was written by Elizabeth Bear, Steven Brust, and Emma Bull. It has taken me the better part of a month to muster up the courage to read it.
I've been afraid of how it is going to end. Not that the writers won't do a stunningly fantastic job, but that I'm going to lose someone else from the show. I don't expect that everything is going to be okay. Not on this show.

I'm just not sure I'm ready for it to be over.

In between writing the last sentence and this one, several hours have passed and I have finished reading the final episode. If I talked about my emotional response to "Something's Gotta Eat T. Rexes", I think I might give far too much away. Suffice it to say that I had one. The thing is, I don't see nearly enough people talking about Shadow Unit. Maybe it has to do with the small corner of the internet which I inhabit, or because like most short fiction, it isn't something that gets talked about, but it should.

So, let me say this: Shadow Unit is one of the most engrossing, moving, painful, and wonderful things that I have read. I have enjoyed every moment of the last seven years I have been reading this collaborative project, even the painful ones. Especially the painful ones, because those are the moments that remind me that this is something I've truly connected with, that they mattered to me. Shadow Unit may be finished, but these are the characters that will linger.

If all of this is new to you, if you've never read Shadow Unit or even heard of it before, let me just invite you to begin with the very first episode, "Breathe", written by Emma Bull. There's a whole lot of story out there, just waiting to be discovered. Shadow Unit is something special.

And to all of the writers who worked on Shadow Unit: Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull, Sarah Monette, Will Shetterly, Leah Bobet, Amanda Downum, Chelsea Polk, Holly Black, and Steven Brust: Thank you. That was one hell of a ride.

Friday, July 25, 2014

This article was originally posted on November 3, 2009. It is being re-posted here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

Two things to note, before we get into it. Unlike the previous eleven articles, my review of The Gathering Storm was based on reading the book for the first time. It had been the first new Wheel of Time novel in four years. It was published two years after the 2007 death of Robert Jordan, and until Brandon Sanderson was announced to be finishing the series, I don't know that I necessarily expected to ever find out how it all ends. I hoped, but I didn't know. My reviews / articles on the rest of the series, from The Eye of the World through The Knife of Dreams, were all based on being a re-read of the series to work my way up to the forthcoming novel. The earliest novels I had read many times, the latest ones maybe once or twice.

The second thing is that this will also be the last of the Wheel of Time articles I am posting for the Hugo Awards. I have already written my thoughts on the Best Novel category as a whole, but I never reviewed The Towers of Midnight when it was published (I was in the process of a major life change), and legitimately, when I wasn't able to muster up a review of A Memory of Light, I thought I was done blogging all together. I was wrong about that, but this is still the last of the Wheel of Time posts this year.

The Gathering StormRobert Jordan and Brandon SandersonTor: 2009

Let’s
just get one thing cleared up before we start here. If it wasn’t
obvious by the last eleven posts of the series re-read, I’m a bit of a
Wheel of Time fanboy. There’s nothing I can do about that and I’m quite
happy with it. This is a seminal series of my fantasy reading life and
Robert Jordan has stuck with me over the last fifteen years when other
authors failed me. So, please understand that while I may recognize
flaws in the novel (and the series), I can easily gloss over them
because this is a series I love dearly. Never is anything so egregious
that it will hamper my enjoyment of the series.

That’s my admission of bias.

I
will attempt to be very light on revealing spoilers since the novel has
only been on the market for a week, but some events that happen early
on in the novel may be touched on more than some would like to know.
So, if you don’t want to know any details, please step away and come
back when you’re done with the book. I’ll be gentle with the spoilers,
though.

This has been pointed out elsewhere, but a major focus of The Gathering Storm is the dueling stories of Egwene and Rand. Continuing on her story of defiance from Knife of Dreams,
Egwene is strong at heart, firm in her need to both do what is right
for the White Tower as well as her need to heal the Tower the right way.
The way she behaves and acts is as important as the result she is
looking to achieve. Egwene demonstrates leadership through example.
She does not permit the rebel Aes Sedai besieging Tar Valon to rescue
her because she knows that her example of moral defiance and the small
conversations she has with the Tower Aes Sedai will do far more good
than she ever could as the head of a besieging army. In this way she is
setting herself up as a viable alternative to Elaida. In this way she
is also shown as something of a mirror to Rand.

Early on in The Gathering Storm,
after another attack by a Forsaken almost causes Rand to mirror the
actions of Lews Therin and kill Min, Rand decides that being hard as
stone is no longer hard enough. He must be as hard as cuendillar. For
several novels now Rand has been holding on tightly to his humanity,
with only a small soft core he leaves for the women in his life. Rand
realizes, or simply believes, that to make it to Tarmon Gai'don he must
strip even that away. Between shutting Min away, exiling Cadsuane, and
changing his attitude about what he is willing to do to defeat the Dark
One, Rand is on a very fast decent into darkness. Others have talked
about Rand’s behavior in terms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and his
journey from being a decent man from a small village to a man who has
to be a killer.

I am so very fortunate to not have experience
with PTSD, but this is an excellent explanation as to the entire
direction of Rand’s behavior throughout the series. It also
demonstrates part of the difference between Rand and Egwene. Egwene has
been taught by the Aiel on how one with honor behaves, how to be better
and stronger, and what it means to live towards an ideal. This has
given her the strength to make her decisions, to stand on her own as the
Amyrlin Seat, and to take all the beatings she has been given as
“penance” as a prisoner of the White Tower and still hold to her duty.
Rand, on the other hand, had to deal with becoming a killer of men and
knowing that in the potentially short time he had left to live, he would
have to kill again and again and do so without compunction.

To
use the analogies of being hard like stone and being able to bend,
Egwene is the one who is strong but able to bend and survive. Rand is
making himself so hard that he will eventually crack and break. It’s
clear very early on that he is in a very bad place. This is only worse
when he has to use the True Power to free himself from an impossible
situation. The True Power, if you don’t remember, is the one that is
provided via a link to the Dark One and it is drawing on his own
essence. It’s what Moridin uses to have the black lines of saa cross
his eyes and what the other Forsaken use sparingly because of the risks.
Rand taps into that early on in the novel and even the voice of Lews
Therin is absolutely horrified by what Rand just did. Like I said, Rand
is in an exceptionally bad place.

The two storylines of Egwene
and Rand are exceptionally well done. Egwene, in particular, should be
singled out as a character done well and one of the best storylines in
the last half dozen volumes of the Wheel of Time. The various events
which take place as part of Egwene’s storyline will be pivotal for the
next two volumes (and beyond). Egwene’s storyline is at times
thrilling, heartbreaking, and when some of the early reviews say that
they wanted to stand up and cheer during The Gathering Storm,
they were probably talking about something to do with Egwene late in
this novel. Folks, if you’re a long time fan of The Wheel of Time (and
you should be if you’re reading this twelfth volume), some of this stuff
is as good as anything you’ve gotten earlier in the series. Seriously.
This could be Joe the Fanboy talking, but Egwene in the late stages of
this novel is just spectacular.

Rand, obviously, has a very
different journey and as well done as Rand’s chapters are, they are
somewhat difficult to read as we see Rand going into dark places indeed.
There are two reunion scenes which readers have looked forward to for a
while and neither one goes well. There is also the things
Cuendillar-Hard Rand says to Nynaeve, and an action which Rand does
which Nynaeve is both horrified about and also finds herself wondering
if it was perhaps truly necessary if he is to defeat the Dark One. It’s
interesting and brutal and is not at all pleasant.

Those are the two primary aspects of The Gathering Storm and combined, is by far the strongest aspect of the novel. Everything else is secondary to those storylines.

This
does mean that Mat and Perrin are given much smaller roles and Elayne
is completely absent from this volume. Readers are given short glimpses
of Perrin and the fallout from the battle of Malden and the rescue of
Faile. We don’t see a whole lot of what’s going on there, except that
Perrin and Faile are relearning who they are together after being given a
chance to grow while separated. Mat gets a bit more to do in The Gathering Storm, but his is likely to be the most controversial aspect of the novel.

There
were concerns going into this novel about how well Brandon Sanderson
was going to be able to step into the world that Robert Jordan created.
Most fans of the series felt good about the decision Harriet (Robert
Jordan’s wife and editor) made to hire Brandon to finish the series, but
even the most positive couldn’t help but wonder if Sanderson would
really be able to pull it off, that he would be able to write the
characters in such a way that they feel the same. That he would somehow
make the characters feel “right”.

Mat is perhaps the only
character who feels “off” (and perhaps Perrin, to a lesser extent).
Here Mat talks a bit too much, his jokes feel flat, and some indefinable
bit of “Mat-ness” isn’t quite there.

Here’s the thing, though. Brandon stopped in Minneapolis on his tour for The Gathering Storm and
he talked a little bit about Mat, though not in regards to the
character feeling “off”. Thankfully, nobody was so gauche to actually
bring it up directly. What Brandon had to say about Mat was that he had
just experienced the most surreal and absolutely weird situation he had
ever had in his life, which is Tuon herself. Mat had never been in
love with a woman before and when he did fall in love with Tuon it
changed his worldview. After finally declaring herself married to Mat;
she leaves and returns to Ebou Dar to take up the Seanchan Empire. Mat
is usually the one doing the leaving and here he is left, this time by
the woman he loves. Worse, he may be about to find himself on opposite
sides if it comes to war. He is out of sorts, not sure how to behave or
deal with what just happened. He’s not sure what to do in the future.

Now,
I can’t say if this played in to how Brandon wrote Mat (assuming that
those chapters / sections were written by Sanderson and not Jordan), if
this was the plan all along, or if Mat just feels “off” because he feels
“off”, but it was interesting to hear Brandon talk about what was going
on in Mat’s world. It’s clear from the Minneapolis signing that he did
think a lot about Mat. It’s questionable if he pulled off the
character or if the change was intentional.

On the other hand, Mat did ask Verin if she "saidared" something, and that was just priceless.

Taking a look at The Gathering Storm
as a complete novel, Sanderson did an excellent job of pulling together
storylines, answering a good deal of questions, and telling as complete
a story as possible given that this is volume twelve of fourteen.
There is no resolution, as such, because Tarmon Gai'don is still coming,
but Sanderson told complete story arcs for both Egwene and Rand and did
a hell of a job with it. Others characters received short shrift, but
it seems necessary and appropriate for Sanderson to have done so in
order to do justice to Egwene and Rand. Brandon was capable of handling
some seriously emotional sequences (Verin, anyone?) and he did so with
great skill.

The Gathering Storm
is a richer and more fully satisfying Wheel of Time novel than we have
seen in a good many years. It is difficult to compare the first
experience of reading The Gathering Storm
to reading those first five novels of the series all those years ago,
but this novel holds up well compared to anything that came after the
fifth book.

The Gathering Storm
shows that Harriet’s judgment in choosing Brandon Sanderson was sound,
that he was the right writer for the job. For fans, there is a sense of
relief that Brandon was up to the task and that he delivered the book
we hoped for.

Call me a fanboy for believing this, and perhaps
this is more than a little presumptuous to say, but I think Robert
Jordan would be proud of this one. Folks, Brandon did well, and he
should be proud of himself, too. He wrote a novel that “feels” like it
is part of The Wheel of Time. It was worth the wait.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

This article was originally posted on October 28, 2009. It is being re-posted as part of my continuing coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

Knife of DreamsRobert JordanTor: 2005

With Knife of Dreams
Robert Jordan picks up the relatively glacial pacing of the previous
two to three novels (the cleansing notwithstanding) and begins to move
the characters to a point where readers can reasonably say that an end
is in sight. Even if that end is still one large novel told in three
volumes away. To be fair, while Knife of Dreams
reads faster than the previous volumes we shouldn’t assume that what we
have is anything like the first four novels in the series. This is
still a novel in which characters wait around for things to happen and
Elayne still spends much of the novel trying to maneuver herself onto
the throne of Andor while her rivals besiege Caemlyn. That said, there
is much to like here.

One of the freshest storylines in Knife of Dreams is that of Egwene al’Vere. Egwene is the rebel Amyrlin Seat and, at the end of Crossroads of Twilight,
was captured by the Aes Sedai of the White Tower after partially
blocking the harbor. Though she is prisoner, Egwene decides to act as
the Amyrlin she knows herself to be and allow her actions and words to
slowly bring about change inside the White Tower and be a quiet pocket
of resistance. She receives regular beatings as penances, but never
wavers in her stance and gradually, over a period of two weeks (or so)
begins to see results.

The Egwene chapters are some of the most
effective and most interesting in the novel. Egwene in the White Tower
gives a true comparison in how things have changed since she was first a
novice and also a stark demonstration of the growth and maturity Egwene
has experienced over the year(s) from when she first left Emond’s Field
to now. As much as any other character, Egwene is a far different
woman than the girl who we met in The Eye of the World, and her quiet leadership in Knife of Dreams
is a storyline which promises to have as much impact on the world as
anything Rand or the Seanchan do. Plus, Egwene’s determination is just
compelling storytelling that gets beyond the regular machinations of the
Aes Sedai in Salidar or the Tower itself.

My Noal Charin watch
continues and for the first time Mat asks Noal straight out if he was
Jain Farstrider. Noal reluctantly admits that Jain was a cousin, but
given how Robert Jordan has set all this up, there’s no reason to
actually believe that. Tuon’s presence here allows her to ask a
question nobody else would have, which is asking who Jain Farstrider
was. Everyone from the Randland side of the ocean would have already
known. But, this lets an outsider ask the question and Noal answer.
His answer is revealing.

“He was a fool,” Noal said
grimly before Mat could open his mouth, though Olver did get his open
and left it gaping while the old man continued. “He went gallivanting
about the world and left a good and loving wife to die of a fever
without him there to hold her hand while she died. He let himself be
made into a tool by---“ Abrubtly Noal’s face went blank. Staring
through Mat, he rubbed at his forehead as though attempting to recall
something.

Young Olver is a huge fan of Jain Farstrider comes to Jain’s defense and reminds Noal of of some of the great things Jain did.

Noal
came to himself with a start and patted Olver’s shoulder. “He did
that, boy. That much is to his credit. But what adventure is worth
leaving your wife to die alone?” He sounded sad enough to die on the
spot himself.

This may not be the heart of the novel
or the series, but the Noal Charin / Jain Farstrider bits are some
which add so much richness to the history and shape of the world and
story. It also provides something to wonder about. If Noal really is
Jain Farstrider as an old man, what happened to him? The most common
theories is that he ran afoul of the Shadow at some point and was
captured by either Graendal or Ishamael and was left a broken man. But,
the question is whether Noal can be considered a potential sleeper
agent with a hidden compulsion. Probably not, but just maybe. It’s
worth wondering about.

Another interesting thing around is the
storyline is Mat with Aludra the Illuminator and what appears to be the
introduction of gunpowder and artillery cannon to the world. How will
this change things and can it be accelerated enough to make a difference
in the Last Battle? Between Aludra’s cannon and the inventions created
as a result of Rand’s school, the world is about to undergo its first
technological revolution since the Breaking some three thousand years
ago. Rand’s got people inventing “steam wagons”, which is an early
version of cars / trains.

Now, Knife of Dreams has
a solid focus on Perrin and a couple of climactic battles near the end
of the novel and it features the resolution to the Faile kidnapping
story (finally!), but more than anything else, what people will take
from this novel is the letter from Moiraine to Thom and the confirmation
of what many people were guessing for years: Moiraine isn’t dead. She
needs rescuing. Hell yeah.

For me, The Wheel of Time has always
been about the little things more than the big story arcs. It gets me
through the times when the major story arcs had slowed to a crawl and it
adds richness to the times when Jordan is absolutely nailing the major
story arcs. Knife of Dreams
succeeds as well as it does because of those smaller moments as well as
the battles (also finally, another Trolloc battle here). The Ogier.
Nynaeve beginning to rally the Borderlands so that Lan won’t ride alone.
Steamwagons. The changing corridors and the loosening of the pattern.
The detail about the Amayar. Rand briefly seeing “black flecks” in
his vision, which makes me wonder about that link to Moridin and the
saa. The revelation to folks that Rand really is hearing voices.
Anytime the Forsaken get together. Seriously, Knife of Dreams is a novel loaded with awesome bits to quietly thrill longtime fans of the series and reward them for their wait.

Is
this a better book because the last couple weren’t quite as good?
Yeah, maybe. I’m not exactly unbiased here and I can only admit that I
love this series and frequently overlook flaws. But, this one is just
better than Wheel of Time had been for a while and the Egwene chapters
are top notch.

All that is left now is A Memory of Light, the three volume conclusion to The Wheel of Time which begins with The Gathering Storm.

Except for whenever I write about New Spring, this will be the last trip through memory lane. The Gathering Storm
has been published and it is all new content from now. I have
thoroughly enjoyed the re-read of the series and I’m ready to jump back
into a new Wheel of Time story.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

This article was originally posted on October 5, 2009. It is re-posted here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

Crossroads of TwilightRobert Jordan2003

On my first reading of Crossroads of Twilight
I was satisfied with the novel, that even though the action of the
novel is lacking and Robert Jordan did not build on the Cleansing in Winter’s Heart,
it was Wheel of Time and it told the stories of characters who caught
short shrift in the previous volume. Only later, thinking back on the
novel, did I feel a sense of disappointment that except until the very
end of the novel could I say that “nothing happened”. My complaints
grew. Maybe we didn’t need to be caught up with all the other
characters. There’s nothing wrong with jumping ahead a couple days or a
week and just picking up then.

So what now? This is either the first or second time I have read Crossroads of Twilight since 2003. All I have are vague recollections. Now we have a volume following Crossroads of Twilight and the first part of the three book series finale is a month away from publication. Frustrations regarding the passivity of Crossroads of Twilight are lessened because now this is only a chapter in the larger story, rather than the book we’ve waited several years for.

The first half of so of the novel runs concurrently with the conclusion of Winter’s Heart.
There is this great “beacon” off in the distance that tells any woman
who can channel that a great use of Saidar is being used. Readers of
the series know that this is the Cleansing of saidin, but the other
characters don’t. The general assumption is that the Forsaken are
involved and when the Aes Sedai scout out battlefield after the fact,
they assume that what happened at Shadar Logoth is some new Forsaken
weapon. Otherwise, there are four primary storylines running through Crossroads of Twilight.

Perrin
continues to chase the Shaido Aiel who have kidnapped his wife. Elayne
works to hold on to the Lion Throne in Andor and is facing a siege from
rival houses. Mat tries to evade the Seanchan in his flight from Ebou
Dar. Mat also works to improve his relations with Tuon, the Daughter of
the Nine Moon. Egwene and her rebel Aes Sedai are outside the gates of
Tar Valon. She’s working on a plan to block the harbor at Tar Valon.

This may be a gross simplification of the basic plotlines of Crossroads of Twilight, but I do believe it is an accurate summation of the bulk of what happens in Crossroads of Twilight. Not a whole lot.

Which
isn’t to say that there isn’t quality here. When Robert Jordan gets
down to it, he can write excellent scenes and put together a good book.
Most of this book just isn’t Jordan getting down to it. The White
Tower intrigue works, as does the burgeoning (and confusing) Mat and
Tuon relationship. Elayne’s chapters are turgid, but the closer Egwene
gets to acting the better her chapters are.

Crossroads of Twilight
does not suffer from Middle Book Syndrome. It suffers from Middle
Chapter Syndrome. It answers any questions as to what was happening
with the rest of the characters while Rand and Nynaeve are off cleansing
the taint off saidin. It also sets up the next part of Egwene’s
storyline, and the future of how the major protagonists will relate to
the Seanchan. That’s about all that Crossroads of Twilight is.

It’s this that makes Crossroads of Twilight such
a disappointing novel. There is very little that occurs in the text
that needs to be told directly. Not that required 800 pages of
paperback text. A couple of chapters could reasonably have covered it,
maybe three hundred pages at most that could have been spread between The Path of Daggers, Winter’s Heart, and Knife of Dreams.
That’s not what happened, of course, we were given Crossroads of
Twilight. It’s a novel that isn’t a novel, it’s a long interlude in
between novels. It is a collection of chapters in a larger novel.
Taken from that perspective, Crossroads of Twilight is not an offensive novel. It’s really not much of anything at all.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

This article was originally posted on September 22, 2009. It is re-posted here as part of my continuing coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

Winter’s HeartRobert Jordan2000

This
*should* go without saying, but just in case it doesn’t…this is the 9th
volume of a series and the book has been out for a number of years.
I’m going to spoil the hell out of it. Stop reading now. Really.
Stop. Now.

Winter’s Heart. The Cleansing. When I first read Winter’s Heart
I was blown away by Robert Jordan’s ending to the novel. The
Cleansing. Rand announces earlier in the novel that he plans on
cleansing saidin, the male half of the Source. The taint of saidin was a
major cause (if not THE cause) of the Breaking of the World 3000 years
ago. It was the counter-stroke of the Dark One as he was being sealed
in his prison by Lews Therin the Hundred Companions. The taint on
saidin was what caused all male channelers to go crazy and destroy the
world, and is the reason for the fear and (rightful) prejudice against
male channelers for the last three thousand years. That’s what Rand
wants to fix. In terms of what happens in Randland, it’s a really big
deal. I was staggered by the conclusion and the actual Cleansing. So
much so that I still capitalize the word Cleansing when referring to
that event. The Cleansing loomed so large over the rest of the novel
that any potential flaw was washed away by that conclusion. It led to
several years of anticipation by how awesome the fallout would be.

The thing is, Crossroads of Twilight removed most of those warm fuzzies, and re-reading Winter’s Heart
did not provide that first blush of awesomeness that the Cleansing did
the first time. Don’t get me wrong, that was a pivotal moment in the
series and it was treated with an extended pitched battle (seen in
snippets), an despite the inherent awesomeness of the event, it doesn’t
hold the magic it used to. Winter’s Heart
as a novel is a big step forward after the last two volumes, but it
does not quite reach the comparatively fast pacing of the earliest
volumes. Big things happen, but they are surrounded by forests of
quietness.

Let’s talk about Mat and his Daughter of Nine Moons. If you’ve been paying attention, you know that waaaaay back in The Great Hunt Jordan reveals that the Court of Nine Moons is Seanchan. This is before Mat is told in The Shadow Rising that he was to marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons. The official reveal of the Daughter of the Nine Moons is in Winter’s Heart,
though most readers probably guessed it before the reveal. There’s
just a little too much focus on Tuon for her not to be. Maybe it’s just
obvious in retrospect. Here’s the big moment where they meet, and
despite Mat’s insistence for the last several novels that he would run
if given the chance, he repeats three times that he will marry Tuon.
The repetition is important.

Actually, what I really want to mention is a character named Noal Charin. We first meet him in A Crown of Swords,
but he becomes a named character here. I don’t know when I figured it
out, but Noal is easily one of my favorite characters. Not because of
anything he does here, but because of what it is. See, Charin is the
family name of a Malkieri family. There is Jain Charin, a legend of
Malkier and the author of Rand’s favorite book The Travels of Jain Farstrider.
Noal has serious gaps in his memory, but remembers stories that should
have been Jain’s. Something bad happened to Noal, something with the
Forsaken, and Jain was broken and took the name Noal. Now, I don’t know
if Noal Charin will be a hugely important character, but I think it’s
awesome that such a legend is walking around with Mat and nobody knows
it. He’s just an old man with a broken memory of past deeds and past
skills. It’s just damn cool, ya know? Maybe you don’t, but I’m
endlessly fascinated with Noal Charin. Jain Farstrider. To think, I
used to be annoyed with all the mentions of Rand’s book early on. Then I
realized what Jordan was doing. It wasn’t pointless. You just have to
look for it. Noal is described as a “natural storyteller”. Indeed,
sir. Indeed.

There’s other stuff. The bonding of Rand by
Elayne, Aviendha, and Min. The resulting pregnancy and prophecy. The
Seanchan Ogier Gardeners. Who’d have expected that. The Ogier in
Randland (the continent, not the world) are gentle giants, but Jordan
gets across a sense of menace of the Seanchan Ogier. Awesome.

As a whole novel Winter’s Heart
is a bit uneven. There’s a sense of anticipation, but you don’t get
the sense that anything will really happen (the Cleansing
notwithstanding). That Winter’s Heart looms so large in my memory is
due entirely to the Cleansing at the end of the novel. Much of the rest
suffers from a bad case of stuff almost happening. Got a new mystery
in whether Mat will figure out what an Illuminator might use a
bellfounder for and whether this will introduce artillery to the world.
Rand got Elayne knocked up and eventually she’ll take back the throne
of Andor. The Shadow has an agent in the Palace. Bayle Domon never did
get to dump the male a’dam into the ocean. That’ll be a problem (or a
solution) for Rand. In retrospect there are enough interesting tidbits
that you’d think Winter’s Heart
is a stronger novel. It isn’t. It’s stronger and most interesting and
compelling than the last two, and a sight better than my memories of the
next volume, but the Cleansing is really the big deal here. It has to
be, but even that isn’t as awesome as I remember it being.

Which is the overall impression of Winter’s Heart. It’s not as awesome as my memory of the experience reading it. It’ll do, but it used to be better.

Monday, July 21, 2014

This article was originally posted on September 3, 2009. It is re-posted here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

The Path of DaggersRobert Jordan1998

I'll just be upfront here, The Path of Daggers
is a little tedious. The novel fares a bit better now than it did back
when it was first published because there is no longer a wait for the
next volume. It's not that nothing happens in The Path of Daggers, but Jordan uses more pages to cover a smaller amount of time than he had in previous volumes.

Spoilers be here.

One of the more important things to happen in The Path of the Daggers
is something that is only introduced, and not necessarily ever
explained as to what it means. The legendary Aes Sedai Cadsuane meets
with the Aiel Sorilea and together they decide to work together to try
to make Rand less "hard" and more "strong.

Cadsuane drew
breath. A chance she would have scoured anyone else for taking. But
she was not anyone else, and sometimes chances had to be taken. "The
boy confuses them," she said. "He needs to be strong, and makes himself
harder. Too hard, already, and he will not stop until he is stopped.
He has forgotten how to laugh except in bitterness; there are no tears
left in him. Unless he finds laughter and tears again, the world faces
disaster. He must learn that even the Dragon Reborn is flesh. If he
goes to Tarmon Gai'don as he is, even his victory may be as dark as his
defeat."

The whole thing with Rand being "hard" is a major
aspect to the last handful of novels. Rand thinks he needs to be
"harder" to prepare himself for Tarmon Gai'don, that being human and
caring would lead to his downfall. On one hand Rand does have his eye
on the ball. He knows that everything he does must be in preparation
for that final conflict, the one which only he can fight (he believes).
The "hard" thing, though, is making him cold and callous to others -
others who are not Min, Elayne, or Aviendha. His behavior towards
Perrin in A Crown of Swords is an example of this.

There are
other things going on. We see Moridin watching Aviendha / Elayne /
Nynaeve in Ebou Dar and when Aviendha unravels a weave, Moridin realizes
she just did something they did not know of in the Age of Legends. And
there's a gholam watching Moridin. Which is interesting, if
unexplained.

The A / E / N trio eventually travel from Ebou Dar
to Caemlyn, but on the way the Bowl of Winds is used to fix the weather.
It's a major development that is seven volumes coming, but as
important as it is, it is almost glossed over because the women still
have things to do. It's weird how something that big and important is
almost overlooked right after it is done.

As interesting as
anything else is the introduction of Cyndane, a character who appears
with Moghedien and is rather commanding with Graendal. There is no
explanation as to who Cyndane is at this time, but by the next novel we
realize fairly quickly that Cyndane is the reincarnation of Lanfear. We
also learn that Cyndane is sort of in charge of Moghedien, though both
are terrified of Moridin. And that Moridin was named Nae'blis, which
makes him the most important person in service to the Dark One. Besides
the weirdness that is Shaidar Haran.

A great line later in the novel:

He could remember as a boy hearing men laugh that when rain fell in sunshine that the Dark One was beating Semirhage

I only point that out because it's such a sweet throwaway line.

By the end of the novel, here's where we are left:

Egwene takes full control of the rebel Aes Sedai in Salidar and begins the siege of Tar Valon.

Faile, Maighdin (Morgase in disguise), and Alliandre are captured by the Shaido Aiel (along with Bain and Chiad)

Rand
is attacked in Cairhain by renegade Asha'man. Fedwin Morr (a likeable
young man) has his brain addled to that of a small child. Rand gently
kills him with poisoned wine.

Perrin intends to bring The Prophet (Masema) to Rand so he can answer for the slaughter done in Rand's name.

This
is more of a novel recap than a proper review, but at this point there
is not much to say in review. With 600+ pages, there are long gaps of
unexplained plans and minor plots with brief flashes of development and
action. If I had to wait two years for Winter's Heart, I would probably be really disappointed. As it is, The Path of Daggers
is what it is: a long novel that only sets up a couple things for the
future but overall doesn't move the timeline along very much.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

This article was originally posted on August 4, 2009. It is re-posted here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

A Crown of SwordsRobert Jordan1996

A Crown of Swords is the seventh volume in The Wheel of Time and it opens with the fallout of the Battle of Dumai’s Wells from the conclusion to Lord of Chaos.
Dumai’s Wells was the rescue of Rand from Elaida’s Aes Sedai and the
first time readers really get to see the Asha’man in action and what
using the One Power against humans in battle can do. Rather than strike
back against the Aes Sedai, Rand keeps his eye on the ball (sort of)
and continues his plan to take out Sammael in Illian. But, because of
the his kidnapping and subsequent torture, Rand believes he must now be
“hard”, harder than ever before. To counteract this, Robert Jordan
introduces the character of Cadsuane, a Green Ajah Aes Sedai who is the
oldest living Aes Sedai and is a legend in her own time. Cadsuane
attaches herself to Rand, despite his rude ill temper and distrust, in
an attempt to teach Rand to be soft again, believing that there is no
way he can get to the Last Battle and win if he is so hard that he cuts
himself off from anyone.

As I understand it, Cadsuane has been a
controversial addition to the cast of characters and generally not a
welcome one (she’s yet another self-important Aes Sedai who doesn’t
explain anything. She’s like Moiraine Squared, only without the chance
to see the personal perspective of Moiraine), but I have generally found
Cadsuane to be an interesting character and a solid addition. Given
the spread out nature of the Aes Sedai, it shouldn’t come as a surprise
that there are some out in the world doing their work that we never see,
and that they come out of the woodwork when it is clear the Dragon has
been Reborn and the world is heading towards Tarmon Gaidon. Cadsuane
works for me.

Meanwhile (because with Robert Jordan there are
always a couple of meanwhiles going on), Egwene is the Amyrlin Seat of
the rebel Aes Sedai in Salidar and with the help of Suian Sanche (the
Stilled former Amyrlin), is trying to build her own power base and not
be a puppet, while also trying to direct the rebels to move against the
White Tower and truly united the Aes Sedai. Egwene

Elayne, Mat,
and Nynaeve search the city of Ebou Dar for the fabled Bowl of Winds, a
ter’angreal able to control the weather (and potentially undo the touch
of the Dark One on the world’s weather). Mat is involved in a strange
sexual relationship with Queen Tylin (strange in that it is presented as
undesired on Mat’s part, but even though we get Mat’s viewpoint there
is still question that Mat really doesn’t want it…which may well be
Robert Jordan’s commentary on gender imbalances and can you “force” a
man? Am I reading too much into this?). The most interesting aspect
about the search for the Bowl of Winds is the discovery of The Kin in
Ebou Dar. The Kin are cast-offs and runaways from the White Tower, a
secret society that gathers and protects women who can channel and could
not make in the Tower or were too old to learn or all sorts of possible
reasons. Now, there is much more to the Kin and two somethings about
them that makes this a very important discovery, but I won’t get into
that because it would be a spoiler (in case one hasn’t read the book /
series and is still choosing to read a review of the seventh volume)

There is plenty to like in A Crown of Swords,
and there are several memorable scenes (the one with Mat and the gholam
in the hallway / staircase is excellent). There are good action
sequences, nice political intrigue (though Rand is beginning to be a
major pain in the ass as a character), and there were some important
developments (the kin, the revelation of the True Power, the Bowl of
Winds, some other stuff), but this continues the trend begun with Lord of Chaos
where Robert Jordan is very much slowing down the plot. There is less
travelling and it feels like fewer days pass. There is more
conversation with people sitting (or standing) around. There is
plotting, but less action. There are plans for the future that do not
develop. Jordan’s pacing slows down compared to the earlier volumes.

In
the end, this is still a volume that satisfies. Looking back at the
series, though, it is easy to see where Robert Jordan began to test the
patience of his audience. With the major characters all spread out so
much and all doing their own things, the novels expanded laterally and
with less forward movement. Even so, Robert Jordan looms large in my
fantasy reading in high school and college and even when the entire
novel doesn’t deliver the goods, there are enough outstanding parts to
each book that the memory remains untainted. This is big and epic
fantasy. While a tight six volume series would have been the new
standard for fantasy, you can do far worse than Robert Jordan and The
Wheel of Time.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

This article was originally posted on July 14, 2009. It is re-posed here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards. The Wheel of Time is nominated as a complete work for Best Novel.

Lord of ChaosRobert Jordan1994

Early
on in the novel Sammael is given an instruction by the Dark One: “Let
the Lord of Chaos rule”. Now, the introductory quote tells us that this
is a chant from a children’s game in the Fourth Age in Great Arvalon*,
but in the context of the novel (and the series), Jordan is not clear
about what exactly this means. The most straightforward reading that I
can come up with is that this refers to Rand. As the Dragon, Rand is
the Lord of Chaos, and the Dark One is giving Rand a fairly free reign
to mess things up and turn the nations against him. To the Dark One,
Rand is little more than a babe with a sword. Rand has been lucky, but
will ultimately fail. That, at least, is the presumed perspective of
the Dark One.

Is this the correct reading? Sammael aligns with
Graendal and neither makes an overt move against Rand during this volume
(at least not until Rand makes his own move). This is the reading that
makes the most sense to me, but Jordan never spells out what he means.

An
alternate reading would be that Padan Fain is the Lord of Chaos. This
makes a certain amount of sense. After all, Fain is quite mad by this
point and is barely controllable by anyone, so letting him do his thing
could (and does) cause a variety of muddles…mostly regarding the
Whitecloaks at this point, though they don’t need any help. Fain, or
Mordeith, or Ordeith, or whatever he is calling himself at this point
can certainly be considered the Lord of Chaos. Except that as
interesting an option as Fain represents, he doesn’t make nearly as much
sense in the context of the novel as Rand.

And what is up with
that being part of a children’s game? That’s an awfully morbid game.
On the other hand, we have our Lizzie Borden rhyme and the whole deal
with standing in a dark bathroom with the door closed and saying “bloody
mary” over and over again, so who are we to judge “let the Lord of
Chaos rule”?

Now, in terms of the novel itself, we are beginning to settle into a routine at this point. As Adam Whitehead points out,
we are into the political phase of the series and fairly well out of
the adventure phase. Readers will respond very differently during the
political phase and many who thoroughly enjoyed the first three or four
novels will be less enamored with Lord of Chaos and the subsequent volumes. Yes, there are major action sequences that are iconic in the Wheel of Time series. Dumai’s Wells is a prime example of this and is perhaps the crowning moment of Lord of Chaos. Want to see the One Power used as a weapon in battle and the horror of what it can do? Look no further than Dumai’s Wells.

The bulk of Lord of Chaos,
however, consists of the characters sitting around, plotting, no longer
confiding in each other, Rand being “hard”, and strategizing as to what
to do next. Or, more specifically, waiting. Lord of Chaos is not pure
stasis, but some readers may perceive it as such.

Back when I first started to write about Lord of Chaos,
two months ago, I wrote down a quick jottings of things I then wanted
to touch on: Bit of plodding, Egwene as Amyrlin, Dumai’s Wells, more
Rand being “hard”, beginning of the Min / Rand relationship, Asha’Man as
warriors – what does the title mean?, re-emergance of Lan (barely),
Alanna / Rand, Verin spending a lot of time looking mysterious and
suspicious, getting Mat in Ebou Dar to meet Tylin, escape of Moggy, a
couple of Halima / Aran’gar actions but otherwise not much there,
Elaida.

At this point I don’t really want to discuss any of it,
except that for me, those were the high points – or just the stuff that
came to mind and worth calling out.

The thing is, this may not be
enough for some readers and that’s okay. Robert Jordan cannot be all
things to all people and he is telling a particular story in the best
manner he knows how. This is not to excuse any perceived lapses or the
decreasing speed of the narrative pacing. It is just to state that the
style of the series has changed and by this point Wheel of Time is not a
story of grand adventure. The characters are growing up. There is
some development, though they retain most of the traits they had before,
only now writ large. Rand is perhaps the notable exception because
Rand is the blank canvas on which Jordan is painting this novel. He
began as a fairly standard and generic heroic boy of prophecy, only now
we see Rand carrying the weight of the madness of saidin and the weight
of the expectation of prophecy. Being the Dragon Reborn was always
something to be feared, not celebrated.

The following statement can be leveled at more than a couple of Wheel of Time novels: The Lord of Chaos is an uneven novel. Overall, I’d consider it to be a good one.

*Great
Arvalon? Assuming that this is a quote from the NEXT age and not the
last Fourth Age (which should be long forgotten), one can guess that it
is part of the how names change over time – something explicitly
mentioned more than a handful of times in this series. So, Great
Arvalon was once Tar Valon. But who can say exactly how the city of the
Aes Sedai has changed?

Friday, July 18, 2014

I originally posted this on March 15, 2009. It is re-posted here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

The Fires of HeavenRobert Jordan1993

I
still maintain that the answer to the question “Who Killed Asmodean?”
is Bela, and that Bela is, in fact, the Creator. With that said, for
all the times I have read The Wheel of Time and for all the times I have
read the first five books of this series, I have still not been able to
figure out who the hell killed Asmodean.

Supposedly the answer is somewhere in The Fires of Heaven. I can’t figure it out. Not with anything I would consider a reasonable theory.

It began in The Shadow Rising, but in The Fires of Heaven
Jordan makes a point to show Rand as forcing himself to be “hard”, to
do what he feels he needs to do in order to get to and survive the Last
Battle. For readers (or, perhaps just for this reader) this begins a
distancing effect towards Rand. A character forcing himself to be
uncaring and hard is a difficult character to engage with. This is not
so much of a problem because the side characters are the real stars of
the show.

The Fires of Heaven, more than The Shadow Rising,
is also where Jordan begins to slow down and drag out the series. At
this point I do not mean that as a negative, but rather as my perception
of the pacing of the storytelling and action. There is more sitting
around and waiting. To be fair, The Great Hunt opened with a chapters-long waiting in Fal Dara sequence, but the perception becomes more pronounced here. Adam Whitehead had this to say about The Fires of Heaven and the story arcs Jordan appears to be using.

With The Shadow Rising, Robert Jordan moved The Wheel of Time
series out of its 'adventure' arc into a 'political' phase as the
characters finally moved into positions of high authority and influence
amongst different nations and cultures, and could begin the process of
uniting the world to face the Last Battle. Whilst adventure storylines
would continue to appear, a lot more time from this point onwards would
be spent on political maneuverings. Indeed, some storylines would unfold
almost entirely within a character's office as they fired off letters,
received intelligence, and debated strategy. That, at this stage anyway,
Jordan is able to make this readable and compelling is a testament to
his often-underrated storytelling skills.

I think Adam is spot-on here. This is more of a political phase. The Shadow Rising
opened with the politics of Tear and moved into that of the Aiel. The
Fires of Heaven opens with the Aiel and the growing threat of the Shaido
Aiel and Couladin’s hatred and fear of what Rand represents and shifts
focus slightly when Rand takes his Aiel across the Dragonwall into
Cairhein and we get a combination of a siege and Cairhein politics.
Cairhein, of couse, is a city / state that just cannot catch a break
from the Aiel.

And yet, Robert Jordan does not provide the
nitty-gritty of politics. What Jordan provides is Rand running
rough-shod over Cairhein, just as he did Tear. Taking control through
the strength of who and what he is. Through Rand’s need to be hard and
his need to unite the nations behind him before the Last Battle.
Through force, if needs be. The political aspect is there, and is only
going to grow, but Jordan does not forget about major plotpoints and
action.

There is a conversation between Mat and Lan in which Mat
lays out strategy for a battle that closely mirrors what war-leaders
came up with independently. Mat, of course, is nothing more than a
young man from Emond’s Field who never saw war or danger until Moiraine
saved the three from Trollocs and the Fade. Nothing more except a young
man with memories of lives he never lived and unnatural luck. Mat has
been a character who has become more and more interesting with each
passing book, but now he becomes the general and leader he never wanted
to be. There is no good reason why Mat should be this special, but he
is and the novel (and series) is all the stronger for it.

Other moments of note that make The Fires of Heaven
stronger as a whole than each of its individual parts might suggest:
Rand and Aviendha (in general, but the…sequence through the snows of
Seandar), Asmodean’s end, Nynaeve vs Moghedien Pts 2 and 3, Birgitte
ripped out of TAR, the return to Salidar, Elayne performing in Valan
Luca’s circus, the resolution of Couladin but not the Shaido, the Band
of the Red Hand forming against Mat’s desires, Rand vs Rahvin, the use
of balefire, and most importantly – Moiraine vs Lanfear. This last bit
has set years of theory and rumor about the ultimate fate of Moiraine, a
fate that for years was not addressed in series until Knife of Dreams opened that door again. There’s big stuff here.

The quiet moments of the novel, the ones where all the characters are waiting for something to happen? Well, that’s where The Fires of Heaven drags a bit. I still feel like the high point was in the first four volumes of this series, but The Fires of Heaven
is overall still a satisfying novel. One which still pushes the reader
into wondering what will happen next. One which isn’t perfect, but is
still a good story, a good book. One which still raises more questions
than answers, and that the questions are just as fascinating as the
answers might ever be.

Unfortunately, I’ve put a stop to my
official Nynaeve Braid Count. I wanted to keep track of it, but midway
through the book I stopped paying attention to it and after I remembered
I counted three by page 150 but nothing after it and that I wasn’t even
looking. What disappoints me is that after googling this, I have not
found an official count. I would really, really like a book-by-book
breakdown of Nynaeve’s braid-tug-count, because unless it gets worse, I
think it has been overstated by many (including myself). I just can’t
verify the count in The Fires of Heaven. Sorry about that.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

This was originally posted on February 8, 2009. I re-post it here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards.

The Shadow RisingRobert Jordan1992

Robert Jordan concluded The Dragon Reborn with Rand Al’Thor holding the Stone of Tear and the crystalline sword Callandor,
the sword that is not a sword. Taking the sword and holding the stone
were the two primary signs to the world that Rand was, in fact, the
Dragon Reborn. The surprise was the desert dwelling warrior Aiel
helped Rand take Tear, believing he may be their Car’a’carn, one spoken of in their prophecies the same way the Dragon Reborn is spoken of, except that the Aiel actively search for their Car’a’carn and the Dragon Reborn is dreaded.

The Shadow Rising
deals with the fallout of Rand taking Tear. The novel opens with
stagnation, with Rand refusing to act (much to Moiraine’s frustration),
but after a couple hundred pages (really) Robert Jordan begins to move
the action. Perrin returns to the Two Rivers to protect his home and
his people. Rand travels with the Aiel to Rhuidian, though he may not
know exactly why. Mat, too. Moiraine and Egwene follow, Egwene to
study with the Aiel Wise Women to learn more of being a Dreamwalker.

I
can grant the argument some readers may make about the opening
stagnation, but even there Jordan lays out some fascinating stuff.
Weird things occur to Rand, Mat, and Perrin. They are each randomly
attacked – Rand by his reflection, Perrin by his axe, and Mat by playing
cards. Jordan pulls it off, though when written down in a single
sentence it may not sound very thrilling or dangerous, but this is evil
tainted and well done. Lanfear makes another appearance, telling Rand
that he will need to learn to control saidin or the other Forsaken may
destroy him…and that Rand needs a teacher, a male Forsaken to teach him.
Rand and Mat each step through a ter’angreal leading to the world of
the aelfinn, weird creatures talking in riddles.

Mat is told that
his fate is “to marry the Daughter of the Nine Moons”, “to die and live
again, and live once more a part of what was”, “to give up half the
light of the world to save the world”. Just in case anyone thought that
Mat might NOT be important…yeah, Mat is important.

See, this is part of what I like best about The Shadow Rising.
Robert Jordan doles out mystery and history throughout the novel and
more than his skill at storytelling, the weaving of the history and
foreshadowing draws me in. If we’ve been paying attention we know
already that the Court of the Nine Moons is Seanchan, though it is easy
to overlook because we don’t know why those mentions in the previous two
books might be important. This is why.

The main reason I am so
fond of this book, though, is Rhuidian. When Rand walks through the
ter’angreal rings at Rhuidian he gets to live scenes from his ancestry,
scenes of the history of the Aiel, who they are and who they were. What
they were. Through these sequences we get our second glimpse of the
Age of Legends – before, during, and after the Breaking of the World.
For me, Rhuidian is worth the price of admission. But, there is more,
some of which I thought was in the next book – the uprising in the White
Tower, Nynaeve besting Moghedien, Rand fighting Asmodean, Rand
discovering how to Travel, Slayer, Lord Perrin, more.

The Shadow Rising
is ultimately an uneven book. There are long, long passages with
little of note occurring and we may well feel that we’re just waiting
for the next major set piece to come up, but at the same time Robert
Jordan’s world is an old friend and though this is the fourth book in
the series Jordan delivers several major events that continue to build
towards something potentially very big. Jordan has not yet hit the
wall, and while The Shadow Rising is a bit slower than I remembered, there was also more goodness than I remembered.

Okay, giving The Shadow Rising
a braid-tug count of 1 is an arguable position but I feel confident
about it. There are several moments throughout the novel where Nynaeve
grabs her braid or holds her braid, but only the one tug that I noticed.
Nynaeve “gripped the end in her fist” on page 85 and “gripped her
braid hard” on page 90. The braids don’t make another appearance (that I
noticed) until page 586 where Elayne observes that Nynaeve “seemed to
have given up trying to pull at those braids when she was angry.” It is
only on page 596 that Nynaeve tugs her braid for the first time in the
novel. It is unclear if there are multiple tugs in this passage or just
one, so I’m going with a count of 1 for The Shadow Rising. So far the braid tugging doesn’t seem overwhelming, with only 9 total tugs over the 2000+ pages of text.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

This was originally posted on November 18, 2008 and is re-posted here as part of my coverage of this year's Hugo Awards, where The Wheel of Time is nominated as a complete work.

The Dragon RebornRobert Jordan1991

So
far in the series the reader has known the Rand is, or will be, the
Dragon Reborn, the prophesied hero who will "break" the world even as he
saves the world from The Dark One. At the end of The Great Hunt
Rand proclaimed himself as the Dragon and those who were at Falme (and
lived) saw Rand battle Ba'alzamon in a vision in the sky. Rumors of
Rand with crude drawings of the battle are racing across the land. Sick
of fighting the dreams and unable to control saidin, Rand journeys to
Tear so he can somehow take callandor, the "sword which is not a sword"
in the Stone of Tear. This will be a major public fulfillment of
prophecy and more than the vision of battle, will proclaim Rand to the
world as being the Dragon Reborn.

In a bold move, except for a
small handful of scenes, Robert Jordan pulls the focus off of Rand and
places it firmly on Perrin, Mat, and the girls. Despite the fact that
novel is titled after what Rand is, and the fact that knowledge of Rand
permeates every aspect of the novel, Rand is barely in The Dragon Reborn.
It is strangely refreshing. Moreover, pulling the focus off of what
can be viewed as the primary and most important character of the series
could mess with the overall rhythm of the series, but somehow it works.

There is a lot to like in The Dragon Reborn,
some which only take on extra importance knowing what happens in the
next eight volumes, others feel important but we don't know why, and yet
others that are just interesting. Oh, and the story is good, too.

Jordan
does an excellent job at foreshadowing certain events, both for the
series and for the book. Early on, Lan mentions that "The Dark One has
killers you don't notice until it is too late", the "Soulless". There
is mention of balefire. Small comments, but there is a sense by this
point that Jordan is introducing elements that will come into play later
in the novel, or later in the series. With Jordan there is no telling
which, but in these two cases the elements will be introduced in The Dragon Reborn.

One
of the major storylines of this novel is that Suian Sanche, the Amyrlin
Seat herself, sets Nyneave and Egwene on a mission - to hunt the Black
Ajah in the White Tower. With Elayne in tow, this hunt takes them from
the White Tower all the way to Tear. Actually, even though the
characters begin the novel in different places and doing different
things, they will all end up in Tear together. At times this feels a
bit forced, but Jordan's storytelling is so strong that much of this
doesn't matter.

One of my favorite aspects of the series, and of
this book in particular, is the transformation of Mat. He begins the
series as Rand's best friend and a weasely little prankster. He turns
out to be ta'veren, one who
shapes events and pulls people towards him. Early on Mat yelled phrases
in the Old Tongue, but now, that Mat has been freed of the taint of the
Shadar Logoth dagger, he has been changed somehow. There is no
explanation if this is something that would have occured in his life
anyway, or if the dagger changed him. But now Mat speaks more and more
of the Old Tongue, has incredible luck, is able to hold off two master
swordsman with just a quarterstaff (excellent scene, that one), has
visions of past lives, and is proving to be one of the strongest
characters in the series.

Regarding Mat, the Amyrlin relates a
story of her uncle that perfectly describes who Mat is and who he will
be throughout the series.

The Amyrlin gave an
exasperated sigh. "You remind me of my uncle Huan. No one could ever
pin him down. He liked to gamble, too, and he'd much rather have fun
than work. He died pulling children out of a burning house. He
wouldn't stop going back as long as there was one left inside. Are you
like him, Mat? Will you be there when the flames are high?

He
could not meet her eyes. He studied his fingers as they plucked
irritably at his blanket. "I'm no hero. I do what I have to do, but I
am no hero." pg 183

That's Mat. Perfectly captured
in two paragraphs that imprinted so strongly in my memory that I waited
for that conversation ever since I first read those words.

There are character introductions in The Dragon Reborn:
Julian Sandar, Faile, and Aviendha. Important characters, each. The
Forsaken. We find out that more of the Forsaken are loose and in some
cities and countries - they rule.

The only aspect of The Dragon Reborn I
really didn't like was for the first time in the series, Nyneave began
to tug her braid in anger or frustration. It's become a long running
joke about the series, but it begins here, on page 93. Nyneave tugs her
braid eight times. Given that Jordan switches the POV chapters around,
it feels like more and it is only going to get worse.

One last
thing to note - the end of the book features a quote form The Fourth
Age. Ths is is a song fragment "Composed by Boanne, Songmistress at
Taralan, the Fourth Age". Taralan. Tar Valon? Does this relate in
anyway to the "Great Aravalon" mention in Lord of Chaos? It is something that will never be answered, but I wonder all the same.

Despite the absence of Rand, or perhaps because of it, The Dragon Reborn is
one of the strongest entries in the series (though I have immense
respect for Book 4, one sequence in particular). This is a point where
even people who later become disillusioned with the series are still
fully engaged and fully in. This is Robert Jordan still at the top of
his game and, to use a cliche, firing on all cylinders.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

I originally posted this on November 5, 2008. I am re-posting as part of my continuing coverage of this year's Hugo Awards (The Wheel of Time is nominated as a complete work).

The Great HuntRobert Jordan1990

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my impressions on re-reading The Eye of the World, the opening volume of Robert Jordan's long-running epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time.

As before, I have no intention or interest in doing any sort of overall coverage of the basic plot of The Great Hunt.
I think that instead I am coming into the basic format of how I want
to cover these books, and that's simply to talk about I did like and
what I did not like.

I can't say that the "In the Shadow" prologue of The Great Hunt has anywhere near the impact of the "Dragonmount" prologue of The Eye of the World.
It doesn't, and perhaps, can't. What this prologue does well is
establish beyond a shadow of a doubt (no pun intended) that there really
are Darkfriends among all lands and all people, both highborn and low,
even among those who should not be touched by a taint of shadow. This
prologue is from the perspective of a man named Bors, though it is not
his real name. This prologue is a meeting of Darkfriends, to give each
Darkfriend their instructions. Bors notes, walking around the room,
that some have not hidden their identities very well.

He
could read them all, to class and country. Merchant and warrior,
commoner and noble. From Kandor and Cairhien, Saldaea and Ghealdan.
From every nation and nearly every people. His nose wrinkled in sudden
disgust. Even a Tinker, in bright green breeches and virulent yellow
coat. pg xv

Bors marks certain nations, a High Lord of
Tear and an Andoran Queen's Guard, Aes Sedai, and himself - one of the
Questioners of the Children of Light. The point of all of this is that I
appreciate how Jordan, in a handful of pages, covers just how
widespread the infection of Darkfriends are and how anyone can be a
Darkfriend. This means that ultimately, everyone may be a threat to
Rand and his friends. Anyone could be that Aes Sedai. Who is the
Sheinarian soldier?

Frequently, what I appreciate is the moments
where history is revealed as part of conversation. Take the scene
opening Chapter 5 with Moiraine speaking with her old friend, the
Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche where Jordan reveals for the first time the
secret plan these two old friends had to find Rand, the Dragon Reborn,
and what they risked, even among those who are fighting The Dark One.
It is one of those conversations which is ultimately an info-dump, a
chance for Jordan to reveal so much detail that no other character knows
so that we, the reader, are not left in the dark (so to speak)
regarding what Moiraine is planning and why she is acting the way she
does. In the hands of a lesser writer such an info-dump might come
across as clumsy, but in the hands of Robert Jordan this very info-dump
(and make no mistake, it is an info-dump) feels comfortable and
necessary. It works more than it should.

This followed by a
half-reveal of who one of the Aes Sedai Darkfriends are. A Black Ajah,
one dedicated to serving the Dark One. What I am trying to remember is
if I realized what that scene meant when I read the book the first time
or if it is only crystal clear because I've read the series and was hit
on the head by the full reveal. I want to believe I was smart enough to
catch it the first time.

Page 89: The dark prophecy written in
blood which mentions a Daughter of the Night, Luc and Isam, and hints at
the Seanchan. The first time I read this I appreciated the mention of
The Daughter of Night (Lanfear), the second time I appreciated the hints
of the Seanchan. This time, I appreciated Luc and Isam. I can't say I
really understand the mechanics of the Luc / Isam stuff, but Luc is
brother to Rand's birth mother and Isam is Lan's cousin. The other part
I love about the prophecy is we then get to see Verin piece together
what it may mean and then move right into realizing what Moiraine and
Siuan are up to.

Pg 146, regarding Ingtar: "He spoke of the glory
they would have, their names remembered in story and history, in
gleeman's tales and bards' songs, the men who found the Horn. He talked
as if he could not stop, and her stared down the trail they followed as
if his hope of the Light lay at the end of it." This is colored by
having read the book before, but it's just sad. And, while Jordan
pushes it a few times, an excellent set up.

As much as anything
else in this book, I love the idea of the Portal Stones and the
alternate worlds where history turned out differently. This is where
Rand meets Selene, a woman who is very much not who she seems to be .
The Portal Stone sequenes are very well done early in the novel and the
short sequence near the end with flicker flicker flicker and "I have won again, Lews Therin" is nothing short of masterful.

Pg 254. Remember how I pointed out the crystal spheres Bayle Domon mentioned in The Eye of the World?
Well, here's one of the two in Cairhein and Rand feels drawn to it -
to such an extent that even Selene, who previously has asked Rand to
seek power and glory, wants Rand away from it and she is scared. By
this point we should have an idea who Selene is, but clearly she knows
what the sphere is and why Rand should be afraid. These two pages gives
the first hint about how much power Rand can channel through that
sphere and while it won't pay off in this volume this is part of Robert
Jordan's setting things up for much later in the series and also just
worldbuilding - except it is worldbuilding with a purpose. Page 385
tells us clearly that it is a very powerful sa'angreal for men to amplify the One Power.

Pg
284. I just like sequences at The White Tower and this one is where
Nynaeve goes through the Rings and sees lives she could have (and could
still) live if she takes another path, each one with different pain and
possibilities. Powerful sequences.

Pg 311. The Illuminators.
Nothing comes of it now, and really, nothing comes of it throughout much
of the series, but there is a feeling of importance to fireworks and
the Illuminators. Even now, with the first mention of the Illuminators
there is a feeling that they will matter.

Pg 325. I like
prophecy and this is the beginning of the "twice and twice shall he be
marked" prohpecy with the herons and dragons. It'll pop up a few more
times, but Jordan does prophecy very well.

Pg 420. I don't remember if Min mentioned this or not in The Eye of the World,
but here is a mention of Tuon, and the Court of the Nine Moons. This
will matter much later in the series. It's not even a throw-away line,
it's just description of no signficance, except that it introduces
something important.

Here's one thing I did not like: Nynaeve.
No, she didn't tug her braid in this book either (two in a row!), but at
page 232 she is being taught the same lessons in channeling that Egwene
is being taught, except Nynaeve has a block and cannot channel except
when angry. Okay, fine. This comes up throughout the series. Only
problem is that late in the novel she channels time and time again with
great control and skill. Now, given the situation late in the novel she
is very likely angry. But, what Jordan established in the first book
and midway through this one is that Nynaeve needs to be very angry to be
able to push past her block and channel. When she does channel it all
comes out as a rush and partly out of control. So how then, exactly,
does she channel with such control and precision near the end of the
novel? How?

No answers are forthcoming, except perhaps that she was
angry and had such a controlled anger during that period that she could
do what she needed to do. Just seems a bit shady, though. Give Elayne
those actions and there's no problem.

Pg 308. Min. "Light, I
don't want to fall in lovewith a man I've only met once, and a farmboy
at that." Min has visions about people and she knows that she will fall
in love with Rand, as will two other women, and they'll all have to
share him. I'm projecting a bit here, because Min didn't say she loved
Rand yet, but two of the three women in question feel a bit forced...no,
that's not right. Not forced. Just too easy. Only one of the three
seems like there might be an honest attachment that comes from really
knowing each other. Min, and the second woman, seems calculated for
story.

Overall The Great Hunt is a stronger novel than The Eye of the World
as Jordan begins to step away from having the series be a basic kitchen
boy / farm boy fantasy. There are so many little details to note,
things that really stand out on a second read through (or in my case an
eleventy billionth read-through) of the series. The opening of the
novel is a bit slower than necessary as Rand is not yet his own man
(stubborn, yes, of course he is stubborn). Rand reacts when events push
him, but he does not make his own decisions yet. Of course, the series
will show later that Rand probably should not make his own decisions
and that he is better off when he doesn't, but given that the novel
opens with Rand having said he was going to leave Fal Dara for weeks but
staying despite his protests (until something forces the issue), this
can be a frustrating issue. On the flip side, it gives Jordan a chance
to have some speechifying and info-dump history and the fact of the
matter is that Jordan is just damn good at doing that.

This is
Robert Jordan improving. He'll hit his stride in the next two volumes,
but there are some absolutely fine moments (the blowing of the horn,
Egwene with the Seanchan, the Portal Stones, Rand in front of the
Amrylin, etc) in this volume. Little things still matter here and for
the first time, Robert Jordan really broadens the scope of the series
with the Seanchan. He also pulls characters apart so that while they
are all working towards the same thing and know what Rand is, Egwene /
Elayne / Nynaeve are off doing the Aes Sedai thing, Moiraine is trying
to lead Rand by not leading him, Rand is trying to figure out what to do
while trying to help Mat, Mat and Perrin are coming to terms with Rand
being the Dragon, and at the very end, we get Masema looking reverantly
on at Rand after the battle in the sky. This is another little thing
that will matter.

Hey, you either like Robert Jordan or you
don't, but when you do, you realize just how much he put into these
books, just how much detail that doesn't feel like overkill. It's an
impressive achievement.

Not that I ever would have wanted to
intrude into such a private and emotional moment, but I would have loved
to have been there when Jordan told his wife, cousin, and perhaps
someone else the overall arc he planned for A Memory of Light.
This was shortly before he died, but even stepping away from what that
moment meant for him and his family, it would have been something to
have the man himself spin out the tale over a period several hours. No
fan outside the family should have been there (and wasn't, if I remember
correctly), but I would love to have heard Jordan spin out the
story...any story. The man was a great storyteller.

Monday, July 14, 2014

This review was originally posted on October 20, 2008. Since I am going to be out of town for two weeks, and the entire Wheel of Time series is nominated for the Hugo Award this year, I figure I should re-post my previous reviews.

The Eye of the WorldRobert Jordan1990

Eighteen
years. It is difficult to believe that it has been eighteen years
since Robert Jordan first unveiled The Wheel of Time, first introduced
readers to Rand AlThor, the Two Rivers, the Dragon, to this deeply
imagined world. By the time I discovered The Wheel of Time Robert
Jordan had already published six or seven volumes in the series and I
devoured them. Now, more than a decade since I first discovered the
series and eighteeen years since Jordan began The Wheel of Time, I plan
to re-read through the entire series to work my way up to Brandon
Sanderson's final volume, completing what Mr. Jordan began eighteen
years ago.

I'm not going to do a plot description of The Eye of the World.
Right now it just seems pointless. The novel opens as standard-fare
kitchen-boy fantasy (or farm-boy fantasy, as the case may be), and while
the novel has that in mind, the series as a whole develops beyond that
more simplistic feature.

So, here's are some various thoughts.

First,
the prologue still kicks several kinds of ass. I absolutely adore the
opening set thousands of years in the past with Lews Therin Telamon in
the grips of his madness, having destroyed his family and standing in
the wreckage of what used to be a palace and being taunted by an agent
of the Dark One. The former hero, elite of the elite, broken. Besides
this, what I appreciate is that there are little tidbits which enrich
the overall landscape of the Wheel of Time. Lews Therin wore the Ring
of Tamyrlin. What I like about this is that the suggestion here is that
Lews Therin very likely ruled the Aes Sedai of his day. In the
"present" of the novels the ruler is titled the Amyrlin Seat. There is
an excellent chance that this is a bastardization over the years of
Tamyrlin...and this plays into something else that I like (not part of
this novel, but applicable). In Lord of Chaos
there is a quote from someone from a Fourth Age children's song heard
in Great Aravalon. If this is the next age and not a previous turning
of the wheel, Great Aravalon is a bastardization of Tar Valon, the home
of the Aes Sedai. The flip side, of course, is that if this is a
previous age then Tar Valon is the corruption and not Great Aravalon.

That was a longer thought than I expected that had little to really do with the novel.

Okay.

Anyway. It's the little things that I like in this book.

"What
kind of need would be great enough that we'd want the Dragon to save us
from it?" Rand mused. "As well ask for help from the Dark One" p 34

It's
almost a throwaway line at the time given that there are musings of
False Dragons and fear of war and Rand questioned how bad things would
need to be to require the Dragon Reborn to be the Savior given that Lews
Therin was the Dragon and he went mad and began The Breaking of the
World. Of course, given the direction of the series, that musing is
sadly ironic.

pg 55 / pg 596 - Rand has a copy of The Travels of Jain Farstrider
(his favorite book) and later we see Lord Agelmar tell the story of
Malkier and mentions Jain Charin, "already called Farstrider", which
suggestions that Jain Farstrider was alive in the last fifty years
sometime and that at the fall of Malkier, Jain was a younger man. Why
this is important (to me, as I'm not sure how important it is overall to
the series) is because in A Crown of Swords we meet an old man named Noal Charin. Coincidence?

Several
times in this novel (probably series as well) characters give long,
detailed, historical speeches about stuff I'm a little surprised they
know about (the farmer giving a fully detailed explanation of Queen
Morgase, the political infighting, and Tigraine going missing), but
given that they didn't have television I guess gossip has a way of
making the rounds. Of course, you'd think that farmer would have a
muddled version of the truth rather than a fairly solid outline of what
happened. The speech I throroughly enjoy encountering is Moiraine's
accounting of Manatheren to the people of The Two Rivers so she can
leave with the boys and thus save the village. "Weep for Manatherin.
Weep for what is lost forever." Speechifying generally bugs me, but
Jordan can sure write a good one.

It's little things I like.
Bayle Domon, captain of the Sea Spray telling Rand and Mat that "on
Tremalking, one of the Sea Folk's isles, there be a stone hand fifty
feet high sticking out of a hill, clutching a crystal sphere as big as
this vessel" and also that the Sea Folk search for "the Coramoor, their
Chosen One." (p 300). Now, the Coramoor bit will be obvious, but that
big crystal sphere thing will also be important later. But it gets
mentioned in passing. Domon talks about the Panarch's Palace, about the
wonders there. All these little things that frequently will come into
play later and at the time they are first discussed, they simply build
the wonder of the world.

Things that seem random, like filler (the meeting with the Tinkers), they matter later on.

So,
basically, what I appreciate is just how much Jordan put into this
first volume that won't pay off for several books AND that when Jordan
did put these things in they first felt like worldbuilding and not like
Chekov's Gun. We're not waiting for the crystal sphere to go off in the
third act but the fact that the crystal sphere matters, that Jordan
built what seemed to be small stuff into a larger tapestry (a Pattern,
if you will), is impressive.

Plus, not once did I catch Nyneave tug her braid in this book. Not once. I was looking, too.

What I didn't like / remember - The Eye of the World
is a slow book. If the splitting up of the group didn't allow them to
hit several marks that will pay off later, I would consider much of that
to be a waste since the thrust of the story occurs with the characters
all together. But, so much of what happens here has import throughout
the series that I can't complain too much. It's just a slower book than
I remember. Perhaps that's just because I'm less patient with roaming
through the woods than I used to be. When everyone is back together,
though, that's when The Eye of the World soars.

This
is an opening volume which I once loved. I appreciate aspects of it
more and I enjoy how the little things here matter, but I am somewhat
less enamored of it.

It's still the opening to an outstanding
fantasy series and one which is worth the read. This book, though, is
fairly standard to what "epic fantasy" is considered to be. Jordan gets
better after this.

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie Neptune's Brood, by Charles StrossParasite, by Mira GrantWarbound, by Larry CorreiaThe Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Neptune's Brood: This is the one nominee I have not read. I suppose I could just post this sometime next month and give myself plenty of time to read it, but the fact is that I have no interest in this novel. I struggle with reading most of Stross's work and I tried to read Saturn's Children and I just could not engage with the novel. Why read the sequel, then?

The Wheel of Time: This makes me sad. I have a deep and abiding love for The Wheel of Time, and it is a series I expect to re-read again in the future (having read those early novels many times). Heck, I hope any future children I may have will read and love these books as I have. The problem I have that seems to grow the more I think about it is that while The Wheel of Time as a whole is technically eligible, this isn't a single novel. It's a single story (mostly), but not a single novel. How can I possibly judge 14 books (15 if you count the prequel) which were published over 23 years and have deeply impacted my love of fantasy fiction against any other single work published in 2013? While this nomination is a love letter and a thank you to all that Robert Jordan has given us, I think that fans would have been better served to have nominated A Memory of Light instead. Sure, it doesn't stand so much on its own feet, and it would be a case where the nomination of the one book is really a nomination for the series, but I think it would be a more valid nomination. I also think that I would have ranked my vote differently if A Memory of Light was nominated over The Wheel of Time. But, it isn't. If I should consider the Best Professional Artist based on the body of work published in 2013 (see some of my thoughts on Richard Powers and the Hugo from 2010), should we not be considering Best Novel the same way? The Wheel of Time, as a whole, does not represent the best of the field from last year. It represents the collective emotion we have over two decades of following and loving a series. That's not the same thing.

Warbound: I have never read any of Larry Correia's novels before and Warbound is the third (and concluding?) volume of the Grimnoir Chronicles. My hope going into this was that it would also stand own as much as it concludes the story of the first two books. Happily, it does. I expect that I missed all sorts of stuff from not having read the other books, and that events and character interactions did not resonate as much as they would have had I encountered them before, but Correia did an excellent job telling this story in such a way that someone walking in fresh could pick up and follow along just fine. This is a pulpy adventure set in an alternate history and feels a bit like it crossed its streams with Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn in how some of the powers developed (minus the whole eating metal thing), but it's a good deal of fun to read.

Parasite: If I didn't know better, I would have thought that Parasite was an offshoot of Grant's Newsflesh trilogy. It's not, but it sure does feel the same. Part of that, I think, is the Mira Grant brand. So far, Grant writes one particular type of book - which works just fine and is perfectly enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the second book this fall and will snatch it right up when it is published. But, with that said, it did feel like a partial rehash of Newsflesh, and not quite as good as those books. I would generally consider Warbound and Parasite to be on a par with each other, but I enjoyed Parasite just a little bit more.

Ancillary Justice (my review): Really, Ancillary Justice is in a class by itself here. I expect that my nominating ballot would have looked drastically different than the final ballot, but the one constant would have been this book. This is a wonderful novel, and I would reference back to my review because I think I said everything I had to say there.

Of course, I do not have a vote for the Hugo Awards because I am not a member of Worldcon this year (I have been in the past), but if I did, this is how I would vote. I don't feel that No Award is justified over any of the novels here, and despite my expectation of dislike for Neptune's Brood, I wouldn't rank it below No Award without having at least attempted it. I also wish there was a way to suggest just how much of a gap there is between Ancillary Justice and the rest of the nominees.